Sep 25, 2017

Michael Skattum x Clutter – Black Blood Exclusives (9.25)

Clutter is set to release not one but two exclusive figures from Michael Skattum (“Draculazer”) and GUMS in the arresting Black Blood colorway featuring a retina-searing mix of hot pink and a funky accent rainbow. The Black Blood Alien Lazer and Draculobster figures stand 10” tall, are limited to 20 pieces, and will be available for $85 (+ s/h) from the Clutter web shop on Tuesday (9.25) at 9 AM PDT. 100% dope.

While they share a considerable amount of funky DNA, you can tell Alien Lazer and Draculobster apart from their different head and right arm sculpts. Either way, you’ll end up with a freak to liven up your shelf. Our pick ? Alien ftw.

Umi Toys Hawaii has just dropped their exclusiveAqua King from Woebots and Silent Stage. This new edition of the Mini Panda King III is cast in brilliant translucent blue resin—matching Hawaii’s Pacific blue—and is available for pre-order now from Umi’s web shop for $59.99 + s/h. Go get it!

Sep 24, 2017

DKE Toys Reveals First Part of NYCC Lineup

DKE Toys will be slinging artful action fingers (affectionately referred to as bootlegs) at NYCC (10.5 – 10.8) from booth #678. As is their tradition, they are revealing their exclusives in a series of announcements. The first four reveals include three Star Wars-inspired figures and one Simpsons send-up. Starting with the road less travelled brings us Blart (4”, 50 s/n pcs, $75) by Manny X Romero who’s translated Ron English’s vision of a hedonistic Bart into a 4” resin figure. Each Blart comes with 2 of four total snack accessories and comes with a have your cake and it eat too clamshell package—a trend we’d love to see more of.

Sep 22, 2017

Bwana Spoons – Kappa Workshop + PopUp (9.24) at Faceguts in LA

Bwana Spoons is in LA (woo!) in part for his fancy shmancy one day event on Sunday (9.24) at Tim Biskup’s world famous Face Guts. Bwana is cramming as much goodness as possible into six hours including a free Kappa Workshop/drawing class from Noon to 1 (preceded by an exhaustive Kappa lecture spanning at least 3 minutes) as well as a pop-up featuring new toys, tees, pins and prints (1 to 6PM) from himself and Liverad Studios. So if you’re in the area, drop by and spend Sunday with Bwana and fellow toy fanatics.

Super7 Unveils a new Mummy Boy for NYCC

Super7 will be heading East for NYCC (10.5 – 10.8). They’ll be bringing plenty of new treasures with them including a new Silver (glitter?) Mummy Boby with Silver, Black and Gold Spray. Look for more goodies announced shortly, all available at booth #126.

myplasticheart NYCC Exclusives Revealed So Far

NYCC (10.5 –10.8) is sneaking up on us all. NYCC stalwart myplasticheart will be offering enticing exclusives as well as an amazing selection of blind-box figures from booth #888 – auspicious number ftw. mph has revealed four exclusives/debuts so far. First up is the brand-new kawaii The Dessert Oracle by Sad Salesman ($50, vinyl) with a triple stack of sweet satisfaction. If sofubi is your thing, mph will have the new MITT Rainbow from Six Twentyeight ($42, vinyl) featuring a colorful, gradient-loving bumper car bulldog. Monsters? Konatsu delivers with a new clear green Daioh Negora (price tbd) with gold, silver and black accents.

Hmm… Are we forgetting something? Pins!!! Fear not enamel enthusiasts, mph will have the brand-new Pocket Pork Dumpling pins from Shawnimals in two designs ($10 each).

Maybe I’m just getting old and things are blurring together but with the rise of several new-ish Asian conventions (TTE, ATC, BTS, Toy Soul) it feels like convention season runs almost year around. Taipei Toy Festival follows right on the heels of NYCC opening on 10.7 and running through the 10th. And… DesignerCon drops just over a month later (11.11-11.12). It’s a promising though pricey development.

Frank Kozik x Blackbook Toy – Lil Alex and Dim Devil Edition (9.22)

“Wild”, that’s how we’d describe the next edition of Frank Kozik’sA Clockwork Carrot sofubi figures from Blackbook Toy. Officially dubbed the Devil Edition, the new Lil Alex and Dim figures (~ 11.2”) feature a super vivid combo of mint and black vinyl with purple accents throughout. If you look closely you’ll note some new paint treatments including bloodshot eyes. As is quickly becoming their tradition, The Devil Edition figures include an alternate variant, this time around featuring mint shirt and pant cuffs. Each figure includes removable masks, this time with a bright red nose—Rudolph has newfound competition. If you’re wondering about the color differences in the product photos, we’ve checked and both Alex and Dim feature the same ‘mint’ coloring which is apparently greenish-blue rather than the more pronounced blue hue seen in some of the Dim photos.

The Devil Edition Lil Alex and Dim figures drop individually on Friday (9.22) at 8 AM PDT from Blackbook Toy for 13500 yen (~ $123) + s/h each . You’ll be able to select the regular or mint cuff variant when you order.

Sep 21, 2017

Alex Pardee x ToyQube – Half a Nice Day (9.22)

Alex Pardee’s sarcastic poke-in-the-eye Half a Nice Day vinyl (10”)will be released by ToyQube on Friday (9.22) at 10 AM CDT for $95 (+ s/h). First seen as a proto at Five Points Festival in May, the new figure features a thin smiley face character who has clearly seen better days. The visual gag works extremely well here thanks to the strong sculpting and really well-done blood and trauma paint effects. Interestingly, the production version does without the eyeball hanging by a thread from the proto. Half a Nice Day follows the Astronaut, Alex’s extremely well-received first collaboration with TQ which took home a DTA.

Amanda Visell - The Iron Giant Limited Wooden Figure Release

Amanda Visell just added some more goodies to her store today! Up for grabs is her Iron Giant wooden figures, which are limited to only 5 pieces. The awesome thing about this release is that each one is a little unique from the other. They are all done by hand, as well as hand painted. The Iron Giant stands 11" tall and can be found available HERE for $500 each.

This Sunday, September 24th, Paul Kaiju will be holding the Purple Passion raffle! Included in the bundle is a Dual Bat, Mockbat and Domino Jack, all in a beautiful unpainted purple vinyl. The raffle will only be open for one full hour starting at 8AM PST and ending at 9AM PST. Those lucky enough to win this awesome set will be invoiced $420 if their name is pulled.

Sep 20, 2017

Kozik x Kidrobot - Free Hug Bear Available Now!

Frank Kozik is out with a brand new toy with Kidrobot. Inspired by vintage squeeky toys, Frank is happy to bring to you, Free Hugs Bear! These are available now through Kidrobot in two colorways. The Silver edition is the Kidrobot exclusive and is limited to 200 pieces and retails $100 found HERE. The orange edition is also available through Kidrobot and KR retails and is available HERE for $75. Free Hug Bear stands 10" tall and comes packaged in a windowed box. It's cute and it's gruesome, what more can you want!

RecycleC x Toy Art Gallery – Takhon (9.22)

Toy Art Gallery's imposing Takhon is a new figure from Thai artist RecycleC. Inspired by Thailand’s Phi Ta Khon festival (ghost festival) and its distinctive ghost masks, the 7.5” figure features two ghost buddies attached to Takhon via chain and a stylish, removable sword. Takhon will debut in an unpainted flesh colorway dropping on Friday (9.22) at 12 PM PDT from the TAG Web Shop for $95 (+ s/h).

The evocative sculpt has intricate details throughout, especially on the face/head and sword hilt and ornamentation. It’s quite posable with seven points of articulation (head, arms, wrists and legs) Perhaps best known for his insane Rajawanorn figure, RecycleC’s collector base should grow with this new vision.

Sep 16, 2017

Time to Party at 3DRetro with Juan Muniz x Luke Chueh Headspace and Prisoner Percocet Drops (9.16)

Ready for a double dose of 3DRetro exclusives? It goes down tonight (Saturday, 9.16) with a release/signing party at their Glendale location from 6 to 9 PM. You’ll be able to pick up the Juan Muniz x Luke ChuehHeadspace (200 pcs, $60) —featuring Juan’s Felipe and Luke’s sad bear—as well as Luke’s Prisoner Percocet (500 pcs, $30) from Munky King. Both Luke and Juan will be in the house, signing, chatting, and being awesome. Come by and get your art toy fix.

Sep 15, 2017

Jim Dreams x Unbox – BTS Chunk (9.16)

Unbox will be releasing the Beijing Toy Show Chunk by Jim Dreams on Saturday (9.16) at 6 AM PDT from their web shop—time for west coast boys and girls to set your alarms. This new edition features a mono design complete with a glorious gray glitter snot bubble. These should go rather quickly, don’t blow it.

Amanda Visell x Michelle Valigura – The Man of Steel

Amanda Visell and Michelle Valigura keep their super hero summer going with their newest spandex savior. Available now from Switcheroo, TheMan of Steel (7”, 25 pcs, $135 + s/h) brings us a chill Superman seemingly enjoying some time away from fighting crime. He follows Wolvie and the Bat before that as the latest incarnation of the girls’ muscle flexin’ hero sculpt.

Sep 14, 2017

Buff Monster – 5” Mister Melty in Chrome (9.15)

So the latest Buff Monster news is mixed. On the plus side, he’s releasing a 5” Chrome Mister Melty figure (10 pcs, $200 + s/h) on Friday (9.15) at 10 AM PDT over on Staymelty.com. . The down side? This fancy version of the OG/Classic Mister Melty is the last chrome edition planned. That’s a shame since the 3” set I purchased is pretty awesome with a sweet, blinged out mirror-like surface that looks to be quite durable. Apparently, the process of making these is quite involved. So… if you’re looking for a chrome Mister Melty, now is the time.

Sep 13, 2017

Brent Nolasco's Beast in Red Available Now!

Brent Nolasco has released a new edition of his 8” Beast rotocast rein figure into the wild. This new release features some amazing paint application and detail that beautifully captures the talent of Mr. Nolasco. He mentions that every piece is hand painted with an 18-step process. You can find them available now for sale HERE for $120 a piece.

Marsham Toy Hour S2 E20 & E22 with Spanky Stokes and Martian Toys

We bring you another couple weeks worth of great ear content coming from Marsham Toy Hour! Episode 20 features a very well known blogger in our toy community, senior John "Spanky" Stokes of Spankystokes.com! They get into the nitty gritty of how he got into to blogging and how far it has brought him today. With countless of customs, all sorts of strolls and quite a few blogger of the year awards under his belt. Give'r a listen down below!

For the latest installment of Marsham Toy Hour, the team brings back one of its OG's, Aaron of Martian Toys and The Mothership Gallery. They chat about the new brick and mortar store, as well as "The Next Great Blank Contest". The gang also talks about the the effect of pre-orders and a lot of shop talk that would be quite useful for both collectors and retailers.

kaNO x Bruce Lee Estate x ToyQube – 20” Dragon King

The wait is nearly over. The king has returned. First seen at Five Points Festival in May, kaNO’s 20” Dragon King vinyl will be available for pre-order from ToyQube on Friday (9.15) at 12 PM CDT for $295 (+ s/h) and will ship in October. The Bruce Lee Estate-licensed figure features kaNO’s OG GoD-inspired design with the iconic yellow and black jumpsuit complete with the official flying kick logo on the hoodie. The XL Dragon King features five points of articulation and comes ready for action with removable nunchucks.

Sep 12, 2017

Toy Geeks Behind the Counter EP 35 Asks Will the Porg Be A Hit?

Toy Geeks Behind the Counter EP 35 ("Spoiler Alert") is up and available for you to geek out to. If you love Star Wars, this is a must-see episode as Ben, Jack V. and I dive into a pile of Last Jedi toys from Force Friday II. Black Series? Yep. Pops? Yep. Sphero BB-9E? Yep. Porg? You betcha. Still seems like a penguin crossed with an Ewok. Watch the hard-hitting reviews below or on Youtube.

Sep 08, 2017

Eric So – Estate Edison and Sam at Beijing Toy Show (9.8 – 9.10)

HK Urban Vinyl pioneer Eric So revisits his old school style for the Beijing Toy Show—just begun—with two new Estate figures – Edison (Edison Chen) and Sam (Sam Lee). Estate Sam may come with a mini blue sub in honor of his Subscrew apparel brand. New pics from Eric suggest that the hoodie is removable (perhaps by removing the head). Estate Edison continues the celebrity’s EDCMonkey alter ego. These will apparently be available at booth B08.

In addition to the new drops, the Beijing Toy Show is celebrating Eric’s work with a huge Art of Eric So exhibition – justly deserved.

Double Drop alert! First seen at SDCC in July, 3DRetro’s Headspace exclusive collabo from Juan Muniz, Luke Chueh and Munky King will drop on Saturday (9.16, 6-9 PM) with an official release party and signing. Felipe meets Luke’s bear and Headspace for a mind altering Headspace. Both Juan and Luke will be in the house to sign the new toy.

But wait, there’s more… 3Dretro will also be releasing their exclusive Prisoner Percocet from Luke and Munky King.

Sep 07, 2017

Kaiju One – Super Sun Sun Bling Bling Treasure Lottery (thru 10.10)

Back in June we wrote about Kaiju One’s impressive and quite ambitious Super Sun Sun sofubi, a fierce take on the legend of the Monkey King. Ever since then we’ve had one question… when? Thankfully the time has come. Kaiju One is offering the debut Bling Bling Treasure Edition (~ 10.6”) in both Standard ($200) and Deluxe packages ($250) via lottery ending on Sunday (9.10) at 8:59 AM PDT. Shipping is $30 for Asia and $50 to everywhere else. See below for full package breakdowns and lottery instructions.

The Bling Bling Treasure Edition features an impeccable red+yellow paint scheme that brings out all the intricate detail in the legendary warrior’s body and armor. Kaiju One’s inclusion of numerous high quality accessories--both PVC and Metal—should offer collectors a 1:6 style experience in terms of playability and display flexibility. Super Sun Sun supports a removable hand system with up to five sets of hands depending on the package. In addition, he’s ready for battle with four combat plags complete with metal poles, a Rod of Naraka in PVC and Metal (Deluxe), and an Avici sword (Deluxe) complete with removable sheath. The Deluxe edition also showcases Sun Sun’s theatrical side with an included Chinese Opera Mask and Headdress.

Not content with releasing a compelling sofubi figure with strong sculpting and detailed paint, Kaiju One is pushing the boundaries to deliver Super Sun Sun as a fully realized character ready to bash heads with numerous weapons and regalia. Dope.

If you’re in Tokyo or can make plans to be there, you’ll definitely want to check out Hirota Saigansho’s exhibit opening on October 7th 2017 at Megumi Ogita Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo. The exhibit will offer a retrospective look at Hirota’s toys featuring each colorway released plus potentially one-offs/tests. In addition to his gorilla and monster sofubi figures, the event will also feature a display of paintings, skateboards, and the debut of two new monsters. And…expect a surprise or two.

This is an exhibition in the museum sense of the word—no toys will be available for sale. Hirota’s Soft Vinyl Kaiju Exhibition is a must-see event for collectors and fans seeking the definitive word on his highly sought after gorilla sofubi.